I was too late.
She's already gone.
I screwed up.
I shake my head in disbelief. No. This isn't happening. Not now. Not when I found a way to fix it all.
I look around for a clue that Nicki will be coming back. The room is free of all her possessions. Not even a single sign that she was here in the first place.
I take a shaky breath and hold back a sob. I was too late.
I sit on the edge of the bed and put my head in my hands. What the hell have I done?
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I honestly don't have the heart to answer it. It's probably just Brent anyways. Either way, feeling it or not, I end up picking it up and clicking on the screen.
I sigh in utter relief. It's from the one person I would beg God just to see again. Nicki. "I'll be back in about half an hour."
"Where are you?" I ask.
"Texas Roadhouse with my family."
Well, maybe a surprise visit will make us both feel a little better.
I send back a message informing that I will soon be driving and unable to answer her texts. My phone vibrates again the second it finds its way back into my pocket. I don't check it, nonetheless.
I quickly make it out to the parking lot and find my car. I Google directions and look at the map swiftly and carefully before throwing my phone on top of my jacket. I dig out my keys the second I remember that I still need my phone and realized how dumb I may actually be. I sit it face up in the console to occasionally glance down at while driving. After carefully pulling out of the allotted parking grounds, I start down the road ahead.
I follow the directions closely and carefully until I see the top of the brown log building. I keep my eyes on the parking lot as I wait for the car in front of me to go. If there was an award for worst driver, this woman might win it. Honestly, I would have time to sit here and not only make one, but also sew a suit and present it to her like an Oscar.
What seems like a lifetime later, I park in front of the restaurant. I walk in the door and the smell of grilling steak instantly fills the air. My stomach begins to growl.
I look around the room for Nicki before the hostess can ask if I would like a table. She and her family are sitting near the back wall. She turns to face me and an unreadable look crosses her face. As she stands and makes her way over, it becomes increasingly clear that it is probably anger.
She grabs me by the arm without a word and leads me out the front doors. Nicole looks around to make sure nobody is in earshot before whispering loudly. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Wow. Not the response I was hoping for. Not even a little.
"I need to talk to you," I answer truthfully, adding another truth to the end, "and I'm hungry."
She rolls her eyes, obviously not believing the second part. She even adds a bit of a head shake for effect. "It couldn't have waited an hour?"
I lift my hands the same way someone would to surrender. I cock my head to the side and smirk at her. "Hey, I'm an impatient man."
She looks away from my face and her eyes settle on my brace. "When did you get it off?" She asks.
"When I came to see you." I reply.
She visible softens; gilt is shown on her face. I hope she doesn't feel too bad because of me. That would make me feel even worse.
She sighs. "I'll be right back."
I nod and she disappears back through the front doors. I watch her walk over to her family and start a conversation. I then look away and watch the cars drive by. It's not too long after that that Nicki tells me to follow her back inside.
She leads me passed all the booths filled with people chatting away and enjoying their meals. It occurs to me soon after that I might be meeting her family. I start to get extremely nervous at the thought.
But the feeling subsides when she walks passed her parents' table and sets at the empty booth beside theirs. I sit on the opposite side of her.
A waiter with short black hair takes out a notepad and asks us about drinks and appetizers. I order a sweet tea. I heard there is no place to get sweet tea that even begins to compare with the country side.
The waiter writes down my order and turns to Nicki. She politely tells him that she doesn't want anything. The man nods and sits down two menus, one in front of each of us, before going to check up on another customer.
"Do you want anything?" I ask Nicki as I open the menu and survey the selection of food in front of me.
"No, but thank you." She answers nicely.
"Please." I put down the menu to smile at her. "I insist."
"Ryan, I already have something coming to my table." She informs me.
"Oh." I say in understanding.
Just as I finish speaking, a toddler waddles his way over to Nicki and hands her a glass with both of his little hands on the cup. She takes the cup and sets it on the table before lifting the little boy into the air. She sits him comfortably on her lap. "This is Aiden," She introduces with a smile, "my baby brother."
I smile at the little boy. "Hey, Buddy. I'm Ryan."
He seems to completely ignore my greeting and continues to stare blankly at the wall. "What's he doing?" I ask Nicki.
"He has absolutely no intention span," she informs. "Don't take it personally if it looks like he's ignoring you. He does that with everybody. We're hoping he grows out of it."
She sits the little guy back on his feet. "Go back to Mommy and Daddy, Aiden." She mumbles and he takes off like a bullet to their parents' table.
I look over to her parents, Wendy and David. They have close to no resemblance at all with their daughter, but their son favors them quite a bit. "I wouldn't have thought you were related if you wouldn't have told me yourself." I admit.
She shrugs, seeming very upset at my remark. A part of me aches as well. "I know." She answers lowly.
"His real mother didn't make it." Her melancholy tone remains. "So we just kinda took him in. I always seemed like the odd one out, especially since their non-biological son looks more like them than their actual blood."
I nod, not really knowing what to say.
Thankfully, the waiter comes back right on time. He hands me my drink and asks me if I'm ready to order.
I glance down at the undisturbed menu laying on the table. "A few more minutes, please." I reply.
"Sure thing." The man says with a slight smile and nod. He walks quickly away to pick up an order for an adjacent table.
I finally get interested in the menu and scan through the pages, actually looking for something to order this time. "What do you think is good?" I ask the woman across the table.
She opens her mouth to reply, when a different waiter approaches our table and sets a plate in front of her. "Your parents asked me to deliver this to your table."
"Thank you." She says to the man.
Quickly, before he leaves, I pull my wallet from my back pocket. Nicki gives me a confused look, asking me in a nonverbal fashion what it is I'm doing.
I pull my credit card from its slot in my wallet. "Pay for their meal." I say and point to the table seating Nicole's family.
"Yes, Sir." The waiter says in his natural deep voice. He takes my card and walks to the back of the restaurant, to the cash register - I would guess.
Nicki blushes slightly and looks down to her lap. Her meal remains untouched.
I smile. "What's with the honey glow, hmm?"
She bites her lip slightly before answering, "It's nothing." She still refuses to look at me.
"I won't take that as an answer."
Her blush deepens and she lowly mutters, "you're paying for my meal and we're eating alone at a table." After a moment, she adds another question.
"Ryan, is this a date?"
I truly never thought of that.
I feel my face turn red hot and quickly hold the menu up higher. I hide my face from her the best I can. Lowly, I question, "Do you want it to be?"
I peak over the top of the menu. She is almost completely flushed at this point. She stares at her steak. She steals a glance at me and I almost recoil. Almost.
She looks stright into my eyes as she nods. Yes.
I lay down the menu and offer a shy smile. "Then yeah." I feel my face redden only a little this time, but enough. "I guess it is."
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Guys! We're almost to 1.5k!
Also, my friend panemreads is writing a one shot book. He's taking requests, if you're interested. He has a list of fandoms he's most familiar with, but is also okay if you request others. He wrote a Brent x Safire one shot also, if you're interested. I honestly couldn't have written it any better myself! He is a very good writer, and if you're looking for a good otp moment, I would highly recommend asking him!
I'm also out for Summer, so hopefully updates will be more frequent. Hopefully.